


Stone and Steel

by yuki_onna_sicarius



Series: How They Met [1]
Category: Pocket Monsters: Ruby & Sapphire & Emerald | Pokemon Ruby Sapphire Emerald Versions
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-29
Updated: 2020-11-29
Packaged: 2021-03-10 07:15:28
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,942
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27629410
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/yuki_onna_sicarius/pseuds/yuki_onna_sicarius
Series: How They Met [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2020144
Kudos: 3





	Stone and Steel

To be honest, Steven was quite bored with the class field trip. Dewford Town was pretty small, and there wasn't much going on there. It was simply a stop on the way to where they were going, Slateport City, but they were going to be stopping at Granite Cave before leaving. It was the only thing that kept poor little Steven from throwing himself off the side of the ship from extreme boredom.

He loved going to caves with his parents and climbing the walls, looking for pretty rocks and stones. His parents always brought along their pokemon, and sometimes he was left with them to scout on the ground while they went to more dangerous areas. He would spend hours with his father's Nosepass and Golem and his mother's Spinda and Slaking while they were away, but he enjoyed that time. They would help him make his own pile of rocks, which he would take home and display in his room. Maybe he would find some more in this cave.

At lunch, he sat all alone. None of the other kids really liked him. He wasn't sure why, but that's what they all told him. He'd gotten used to being alone, but he didn't really like it. He'd like to have a friend to talk to.

"Children, it's time to go to Granite Cave!" the teacher announced. Steven had finished his lunch a while ago and had been furiously texting his mother because of how utterly _bored_ he was, but she didn't complain. She always replied to his messages, no matter how much work she had. She always had one excuse or another for his father, who never had a problem with her texting during work. He even got in on the messages as well.

Steven kept to the back of the group. The teacher didn't have much to say that he didn't already know, considering his already extensive years of cave scouring with his parents. He may have only been seven, but he was practically raised in caves.

As his teacher was going on a long discussion about the different types of rocks present in the cave, he wandered a bit. Not far, he could still hear her, but he didn't pay any attention to her. He caught glimpses of pokemon here and there, but they seemed off put by the group of people, so they kept to themselves. He saw a hole in the ground and peered below, into the darkness. He wondered what was down there, what pokemon and stones he could find. He'd like to go see, but not alone. He wasn't ready for that yet.

He also wasn't ready for the pair of hands that violently pushed him down said hole.

He let out a scream as he descended into the darkness in a free fall, unsure of when he would hit the bottom. When he finally crashed to the ground, pain shot through his whole body. Landing on his left side, he was pretty sure his left arm was broken, and screamed out in pain and fear. Up above, he could hear his teacher screaming his name, but couldn't see anything. It was too dark.

He felt something breathe against his hand and froze. In a moment of clarity, he pulled out his PokeNav and turned on the flashlight. Standing beside him, curiously sniffing at this foreign creature, was a small silver pokemon with bright blue eyes. Startled by the light, it darted away behind a large rock, but peered out back toward Steven. Captivated by this strange pokemon, Steven forgot about his pain. For a while, they had a stare down, neither one looking away or backing down. Not like Steven could if he wanted, of course.

Eventually, more clam now that it wasn't being attacked, the little pokemon came back out from its hiding place, back to Steven. It sniffed at him again, starting at his feet and making its way up to his hand. It tried to climb onto his leg, but Steven let out a yelp at the sheer weight of the creature, which startled it enough that it fell off him onto its back. It struggled for a while, its tiny little legs flailing in the air, but it eventually rocked itself back onto its feet.

Steven let out little whimpers as he could no longer ignore the pain anymore. It must have sensed something wrong with his left arm because when it got to it, it licked it and tapped his softly with one of its front paws. Steven laid his PokeNav on the ground to light more of the area up, and wiped away some of his tears. The little pokemon started running around him, occasionally leaning back so it was sitting upright and clapped its front paws together. It looked pleased with itself when Steven smiled at it, though still a bit sadly.

When it saw Steven's backpack, it went up to it curiously and climbed inside. "Hey!" Steven exclaimed, but was unable to do anything. He was defenseless, possibly with a broken arm, and that pokemon was heavy for its tiny size. It came back out with several of Steven's pens in its mouth, dropped them on the ground, and started patting at them. It started chewing on them, but quickly gave up when it didn't like the taste.

Another pokemon made its way over to them, this one looking much more aggressive. It was a creature with what looked like a large mouth growing out the back of its head. It didn't look happy, and approached with malicious intent. Just when Steven thought he was done for, the little pokemon that had been with him since he fell stood in front of him, pretecting him from the bigger pokemon. The bigger one attacked, but the little one was ready and fought back, eventually scaring the new one into running back into the depths of the cave.

His PokeNav vibrated. It was his father.

_I got a call from your teacher you had fallen in a cave. What happened?_

Steven reached over to reply, but when he saw how much battery it had, he hesitated. It was low, and his only light source. He couldn't afford to waste battery on replies. But his parents would panic if he didn't say anything to them, so he sent a short _someone pushed me_. Both parents sent frantic texts, but he didn't reply after that.

Up above he could hear voices again, louder than before, several adults. "Steven, can you hear me!?" his teacher yelled down. He tried to reply, but found his voice wasn't loud enough. He could hear panic in the voices above.

"Mrs. Stone!" they exclaimed after a moment. Steven felt a sense of relief wash over him at that. He'd forgotten she had a meeting in Dewford today.

"I'm going down," she announced.

"But-"

"Quiet! You've had time to get down there and get him, and you haven't!"

He could hear the light flapping of her Swellow's wings as they descended into the depths of the cave before her flashlight turned on. When their lights met, she let out a relieved sigh and jumped off her pokemon's back. She was by his side in an instant, wrapping his wrist up. He whimpered and she kissed his head. "Don't worry, Steven, it's not broken," she assured him. Carefully, she pulled him into her arms and stood, grabbing his backpack. He looked around for his pokemon friend, who was hiding behind a rock again.

"Mama, what's that pokemon?" he asked her, motioning to it. She looked at it and smiled a little.

"It's an Aron," she answered.

"it protected me," he told her.

"I see. So you made a friend?" Steven nodded at her question. She helped him onto her Swellow and they made their way up and out of the cave. He was sad to leave his little Aron friend.

Steven looked down at the other students as his mother passed them overhead, out of the cave, to the small hospital Dewford City had. He never forgot that Aron.

~~~

Steven was hiding from his dad. It was his eleventh birthday and the man was trying to get him to adopt a Geodude as his first pokemon, but Steven didn't want it. It was a mean Geodude, and he didn't want a Geodude anyway. Every Stone had one, sure, it was tradition, but Steven didn't want one. He wanted his own pokemon.

Maybe he'd sneak off and find that Aron he'd seen all those years ago. Wallace, the newcomer to his school a year after his fall, and his best friend, had tried to convince him water pokemon were the best and to be a Water-type trainer with him, but while he agreed they were good, he didn't want those either. Truth be told, he wasn't sure what type of pokemon he wanted.

"Steven!" his father called out. He ducked around a corner, into one of the labs, and right into someone.

"Well, well, if it isn't the birthday boy!" the man exclaimed. Steven groaned and looked up.

"Hi, Uncle Isaac," he said.

"If I didn't know any better," Isaac said, "I'd think you weren't excited to see me." Steven pouted and tried to get around his uncle, who would call his father over. That's when his eyes landed on a pokemon trying desperately to escape the grasp of one of the scientists. He let out a soft gasp and ducked away from his uncle, making his way to the scientist.

"Oh, hello, Steven," the man greeted between pants. "Happy birthday."

"What is that?" Steven asked, pointing at the pokemon.

"A very stubborn Beldum," the scientist replied. "We found it not long ago, all on its own and injured. We brought it back here and healed it up, but now it won't listen to instructions and keeps making a mess." The older man huffed, but when the Beldum looked down, it met Steven's eyes and something just...clicked.

It dove down into Steven's arms, and he just _knew_ this pokemon was meant to be his. He laughed as the Beldum snuggled closer to him, getting comfortable. "It likes you," the scientist commented.

"Can I keep it?" Steven asked hopefully.

"Sure. It's not like any of us are training it."

"Wait a minute!" Isaac snapped. "Steven, you're supposed to have a Geodude!"

"I want the Beldum," Steven replied stubbornly. It jumped out of his arms and tugged on his sleeve, leading Steven away, continuing the chase.

Which led him right to his mother. Steven froze when he saw her with her hands on her hips. "Your father's been looking for you all day," she chastised, "as have your aunts and uncles. You know it's rude to wander off when so many have come to see you."

"He wants to give me a _Geodude!_ " he complained. "I don't want one!"

She sighed and patted his head. "You really are your father's son," she said.

"As if you're not stubborn, too," he muttered under his breath. She just patted his head again.

"So, you found the little nuisance," she chuckled as she poked the Beldum he was with. He lit up at the mention of his new pokemon.

"It's mine!" he exclaimed excitedly. "The scientist gave him to me!"

"Did you say thank you?" his mother asked. He thought back and shook his head, looking away from her, guilty. "Well, you can go back and tell him when you tell your father you won't be taking that Geodude." Steven's head snapped up, his face paling at the thought. He hated disappointing his dad. "Don't worry, I'll be with you."

And so they made their way back home, stopping to thank Robert, the scientist who had given the Beldum to Steven.

When they arrived at their mansion, everyone shouted happy birthday, but the excited air turned to confusion when they saw the Beldum following Steven at his shoulder. It lowered itself to hide behind him.

"What do you have there?" his aunt Cara asked him.

"It's a Beldum," Steven replied, but all his excitement from earlier was gone.

"Steven's going to be a Steel-type trainer," his mother added. "He's already got an Aron on hold for him at Granite Cave." She was looking at him when she said that, a proud look on her face. Steven smiled up at her and they shared a knowing giggle.

"Steel-type?" Isaac asked, walking in after them with his father. "But we're Stones. No Stone has ever been a Steel-type trainer."

Steven looked over at his father, who just let out a loud laugh. "Steven, you never cease to amaze me," he laughed. "Leave it to my boy to be the first steel trainer in the family!" He pulled his son into a tight hug, and Steven felt the tension he'd felt all day evaporate from his body. The rest of his family looked disappointed, but his parents were all that mattered to him, and they were happy.

He spent most of his time focusing on his Beldum, who he'd named Sterling. He only really paid attention to everyone else when they directly talked to him, which his mother pointed out all of the children did.

~~~

Granite Cave now had a ladder to the lower level. Steven was relieved to see this, and, with Sterling by his side, descended into the cave depths. He was on a mission: find the Aron he'd met years ago. He hoped it hadn't been caught since then, he hadn't stopped thinking about it since their meeting. Sterling whizzed around his head, excited to be outside of Rustboro and seeing more of Hoenn. He made a great flashlight as well, lighting up the cave.

Almost as soon as he touched the ground, a little paw patted his pant leg. He looked down at the Aron sitting at his feet and smiled. "So, we meet again," he commented, bending down to pick it up. It was still heavy, and it took some effort, but Steven managed it. The Aron nuzzled his cheek. "It's good to see you again," he said and put it back down before presenting it with a luxury ball. It bopped the button on the ball and entered it, refusing to break out. Steven held the ball close to his chest, excited to have the next partner on his team.

He felt another tap on his leg and looked down to see a Mawile looking up at him. This wasn't the same one that had attacked him, this one was more bashful. When he bent down to be closer to it, it pointed at itself shyly. "You want to join my team?" he asked and it nodded. He pulled out another ball and caught it, and again there was no attempt to break free.

 _Alright_ , Steven thought, _two more_ _teammates._ He pulled them both out again once he had returned to the upper floor. "You two need names," he told them. "I'm tempted to name one of you Granite," he chuckled. It was a joke, but Aron jumped up excitedly at the suggestion. "Alright, alright, I guess your name is Granite," he said, patting his head. "Alright, now for you," he said, turning to Mawile. She tapped her snout thoughtfully, which was cute enough to make Steven laugh. "Hm, how about Mica?" he asked her. She looked up at him and nodded. "Alright, Granite and Mica, meet Sterling." Beldum floated down so they could see them better.

~~~

Steven made his way to Fallarbor Town. He wasn't in any major hurry to fight all the gyms, though he did have four badges already. He was taking his pokemon for a bit of a break, and Wallace mentioned he would be taking part in a contest in the town, so it seemed perfect. He hadn't seen his best friend in a long time.

They saw a lot of wild Spindas, who, upon seeing them, hid from them but still watched them intently. Something seemed...off. Steven knew what Spindas were like, his mother had several and taught him how to take care of them, and they were all being strange, to say the least. It wasn't until he heard a distant, strained _CAW_ that caused him to sprint toward the sound. He wasn't sure what it was, but he wasn't scared with all his pokemon with him. He wasn't prepared for what he saw.

A Skarmory, young by the size of it, desperately trying to fly off, but couldn't because of a clearly broken wing. The Spindas around it steered clear, but a few brazen Sandshrews and Slugmas moved in closer to it, some even getting violent. It wouldn't last much longer in a fight, it was worn out and worn down.

It let out another, weaker cry before giving up completely, laying its head down. Steven acted quickly. "Mica, bite!" he yelled. She charged up to the Sandshrew doing the most damage and bit it hard. It let out an angry cry and backed away. She did a number on it and it ended up running away. Upon seeing Steven, any other pokemon attacking the Skarmory backed off. He approached the pokemon cautiously, making sure it knew he was approaching.

It looked up at him and snapped its jaw at him. He held his hands up, then proceeded to sit down in front of it. He reached into his bag and pulled out a potion that he offered to the Skarmory. It hesitated, but inspected the offered item, but turned its head away. "If you won't drink the potion, at least let me look at your wing." It eyed him cautiously as he made to reach for the wing. He held his hand outstretched for a moment, waiting to see the reaction, but when there was none, he moved closer and carefully ran his fingers over the wing.

Yep, broken. Badly. "Sterling," he called. The Beldum moved over to him. "Go to town and get a nurse." It turned and floated off as fast as it could. "Granite, bring my bag over and get the bandages out. Mica, you've done good, go ahead and rest." The quiet Mawile nodded and sat beside him, but kept an eye out on the pokemon surrounding them.

Occasionally as Steven worked, the Skarmory would bite at him, but he was so used to being bitten that the light smacks he retaliated with were second nature to him. It shocked the Skarmory into finally no longer nipping at him, but screeching out when something was particularly painful. "I'm almost done," he told the pokemon, patting its head assuringly.

He had just finished wrapping the wing when Sterling arrived with a nurse. She gasped upon seeing the condition the Skarmory was in and quickly approached them. "What happened?" she asked as she bent down to inspect the pokemon.

"I'm not sure," Steven replied. "It was already hurt when I found it."

"Well, let's get him to the PokeCenter." She was able to get the Skarmory on its feet and helped it get to the PokeCenter, where she took it to operate. This wasn't a simple fainted pokemon, and so it would take more than a simple rest and recovery.

"Steven!" He turned at the sound of his name and saw Wallace rush over to him. The other trainer fell to his knees beside his friend. "What happened? I've been looking for you, and then I saw Sterling leading a nurse over here."

"There was an injured Skarmory," Steven explained, pushing himself up onto his feet, brushing the volcanic soot off his clothes before offering his hands to his friend. "I'm sorry I missed your contest."

"If it's to take care of a pokemon, I can't be angry," Wallace assured him and led the way to town. "There wasn't much competition," he joked. "I don't know how my competitors got past the normal rank contest."

"Because it's notoriously easy?" Steven suggested and shrugged. "You might have showed too much of your hand there."

"If you think that, then you underestimate me," he said, a bit of sass in his voice. "Barbie's proven to be a nice addition to my team."

"Barbie?" Steven asked curiously.

"My Barboach," Wallace replied, before sharply turning to Steven. "You haven't met her yet. I just caught her a week ago!" He grabbed Steven's hand and started running to town, a new vigor in his step.

Wallace showed him the newest member of his team proudly. She greeted Steven with a playful bite to his finger before swimming excitedly around the bathtub. He produced the two newest members of his own team to show off to Wallace, who cooed over them. Mica took to him quickly and was soon coming out of her bashful shell to play with him. Sterling circled above the tub that Barbie was in, and the Barboach chased it, squirting it from time to time.

After a while, when Wallace decided it was time for his award winning team to rest, Steven made his way to the PokeCenter the injured Skarmory was at. When the nurse saw him, she smiled and greeted him. "I think he's been waiting for you," she told him. She led him to a recovery room, where the Skarmory was pecking angrily at the cone wrapped around his neck. All he was doing, however, was hurting his own beak. Until he saw Steven.

He cawed at the trainer, who approached cautiously. Steven reached out a hand and let the Skarmory decide what he did, which was run his fingers over the pokemon's head. The Skarmory liked getting chin scritches apparently.

"Do you want to stay with me?" he asked, which earned him an endearing nip on the hand. He continued petting the Skarmory and eventually properly introduced him to the rest of his team. Wallace also eventually came to visit.

"He's such a pretty Skarmory," he said, patting the pokemon's head. "You should enter him in a contest."

"I'll leave that to you," Steven laughed. "I'm not one for the glitz and glam like you."

"Such a shame," Wallace replied. "What did you name him?"

Steven thought about it for a little while. "Topaz," he finally answered.

~~~

Steven spent the next few years training and raising the team he had. Topaz recovered from his broken wing and became his main mode of transportation, which the pokemon was happy for. He loved flying around and he loved Steven, so flying Steven around made him very happy. They stopped in to visit his family in Rustboro often, but he spent most of his time away from his home on his journey.

It was on one of these trips home that he was pulled aside by one of the Devon Corp scientists and shown two pokemon he'd never seen before. One looked like a purple plant with tentacles, and the other some bug creature. He turned, confused, to the scientist, wondering what they had to do with him. "This is Lileep," she explained, pointing to the plant pokemon, "and Anorith," and pointed at the bug pokemon. "They're pokemon that were fossilized and we restored them to their proper form. But we weren't expecting the experiment to work, and no one can take them. They're...not very cooperative. You've been good at taming uncooperative pokemon in the past, so we were wondering if you would take them."

Anorith approached Steven and inspected his right leg, poking his foot with one of its pincer-legs. "What type are they?" he asked in response.

"Anorith is a dual rock-bug pokemon, and Lileep is a dual rock-grass type. I know they're not steel-types, but you're a Stone. It can't hurt to have some rock-types, right?"

Lileep approached him and leaned in close. Unnervingly close. Its tentacle-philange- _things_ wiggled and one got _very_ close to his face and poked his cheek. It must have decided it liked him, because it wrapped the rest of the tentacles around him and pulled him in close. "Are you going to eat me?" Steven asked, but it only pulled him into a strange hug. Anorith also claimed him by plopping down on his foot.

"I think that answers that question," the scientist cheered, "they're yours, Steven!"

"But-" Steven started, but she had already scurried off. He looked at the Lileep with a strange look on his face, but the pokemon was clearly excited to have claimed him as its trainer. "Alright," he said, patting their heads, "I guess we're a team."

Sterling, now evolved to a Metang, was the first to meet the newest members, in one of Devon Corp.'s meeting rooms. Lileep wrapped its tentacles around him and pulled him closer, which caused Sterling much anxiety. It seemed he and Steven had the same idea about what those tentacles were typically used for. However, Lileep just wanted to see Sterling up close and personal. Anorith had crawled up onto the table and was inspecting Sterling as well.

"If you're going to be on the team," Steven said, "you're going to need names." He patted Anorith's head. "I'm running out of name ideas," he muttered. "I'd call you Lapis, but you're not blue." Anorith, however, reacted to the name, tapping Steven on his hand in an excited manner. "What, you like Lapis?" Anorith made a happy noise. "Alright, Lapis it is." He couldn't help but smile at the pokemon now excitedly rushing around the table. He turned to Lileep and watched it sway back and forth, but no name came to him. Well, one did, but it had nothing to do with his hobby of rock and gem collecting. But it reminded him of a certain someone from a certain far away city that frequented contests. "Lily?" he asked Lileep, who made a content noise in response. "Alright, Lapis and Lily. My team keeps growing."

~~~

Baltoy was another odd addition to Steven's team, but not an unwelcome one. He was quiet and observant, a real hard hitter that would sneak up on an opponent from nowhere. Abandoned on the side of the road, he had quickly attached himself to Steven after the trainer offered the wayward pokemon some food.

He liked to stay close to Steven, and did everything he could to please his new trainer. When they sat to rest and eat, he would try to cuddle with Steven to gain his affection. "I'm not going to leave you behind," Steven promised and patted the Baltoy's head. "There's no need to worry, Tourmaline."

And yet, he couldn't help but worry. He'd been abandoned once, what would stop it from happening again? No, he needed to make this new trainer love him so he wouldn't leave him. So he did well in battles and snuggled up with him during down time.

Mica was beginning to get to anxious leaving home, and as such, she was coming on trips less and less. Steven's parents would make sure she was fed and loved and generally taken care of, but Steven missed her. Baltoy had taken her place, but he couldn't wait to introduce them to each other and see the Mawile again.

He had a good, solid team now. He was about to take on the Lavaridge Town gym. He had decided he was in no rush to take on the gyms and took time to bond with and train all his pokemon. What was he going to do, become the champion? Since he had just gotten Tourmaline, he decided to train up the Baltoy before taking the gym on. He was at a disadvantage with all his steel pokemon, after all.

"You're doing a really good job," he praised as he fed Tourmaline some food; the pokemon smiled with his eyes at the praise. He turned his head up to look at the sky and sighed, seeing how late it was, and decided it was a good idea to call it a night. He'd dug out a small alcove in the desert that served as a home base that the team could take cover in and rest in at night. He called his other pokemon back into their balls for the night, but let Tourmaline stay out a little longer. He made his way to his hideout, careful to avoid other trainers, and set up a sand door with Tourmaline's help.

"There, now we're set to rest," he proudly proclaimed. He turned to the pokemon and smiled at him. "You're a really good pokemon, Tourmaline, I can't imagine why your last trainer abandoned you." Tourmaline made a distressed noise at the mention of his previous trainer, so Steven pulled him in close and hugged him. "Like I said, you're a part of the team. I'm not going to abandon you."

~~~

"I'm sorry, what?" Steven couldn't believe what he was seeing. He'd left Metang in the daycare with Mica, who needed to make some new friends, to have a familiar face around her. He hadn't expected _this._

"Yes, uh, we were quite surprised as well," the daycare man stated, doing his best to hold onto not one, not two, but _three_ eggs. "We've never seen a pokemon lay so many eggs at once before."

"How...just... _how?_ _"_

"Ah, well, your Metang got pretty chummy with a Ditto, if you understand what I'm saying young man."

Steven rubbed his face with his hand, covering up the facepalm he just did. "Yes, sir, I'm sixteen. I understand what you mean." The daycare man chuckled at him.

"Do you want the eggs?" he asked. Steven lowered his hand from his face and considered the question.

 _Do I?_ he asked. _"Do I really need four Metagrosses? What would I do with four Metagrosses?_ But as he thought about it, he realized there was no rule stated anywhere that he needed to evolve all his pokemon, and three little Beldums could prove quite useful. And so he nodded and held out his hands to take the eggs.

"And before I leave, I'll be taking my Metang back."

The daycare lady seemed sad to see the two steel-type pokemon leave, but Mica seemed happier after a day of socializing. She'd been cooped up for far too long with a bunch of businessmen and scientists for her own good. And then there was Sterling.

"Three eggs," Steven scolded, and Sterling hid behind its hands in embarrassment. "Truly, you couldn't help but breed?" Sterling made a distressed noise. "You're about to be a parent to _three_ Beldums. I hope you're ready for that responsibility." Sterling lowered its hands and nodded as best it could. "Good."

And so began the long process of hatching eggs. Steven made sure to keep them close to Sterling at all times, especially while they were sleeping. Finally, though, it happened. It was a random day, lunchtime even, when the eggs began to hatch. Mica was the one that alerted them, making a calling sound and pointing to them. They were shaking as the Beldums inside fought their way free. It took a long time, and Steven even considered helping them at one point, but finally they broke through and pushed out of their eggs.

Sterling had come to him already flying, so he had no idea what baby Beldums did for movement. He wasn't disappointed when he saw them tumble from their egg shells and immediately start rolling around. He couldn't hold back his laughter as he watched them. He pulled out his PokeNav and recorded a video of them before sending it to Wallace with the caption "Have you ever seen baby Beldums?".

And that was how he met Gin, Kin, and Jin, his Beldum triplets.

~~~

Champion Steven Stone was exhausted after a long day of paperwork and events, flying from one city to the next, shaking hands, cutting ribbons, and visiting sick kids in the hospital. The only respite he'd had was when he stopped in to see Wallace participate in a Master-rank contest, and even then he'd barely had time to say hello to his friend before he had to move on to the next thing. He was ready to sleep, and so he fell onto his bed fully clothed and fully intending to fall asleep that way. He had a couple messages from Wallace he had yet to respond to, but he didn't have the energy. Wallace would understand getting a reply in the morning.

But it wasn't comfortable to sleep in a suit, so he pulled himself out of bed and changed into some pajamas. Once that was done, he pulled back his sheet covers and crawled under; he was asleep almost instantly.

It didn't seem like he was asleep long before he was awoken by a knock on the front door. He groaned as he forced himself awake; after all, no one would come knocking on his door this late at night if it wasn't an emergency, right? He looked at the clock and saw it was three in the morning. So he'd slept longer than he thought, just not long enough. He slowly pushed himself to the edge of his bed and took a moment to orient himself before standing up, just as another knock thudded against the door.

When he pushed the door open, he was surprised to see Cynthia waiting for him. "Cynthia?" he asked, rubbing his eyes. "Did something happen?" His mind was racing at a million miles a minute trying to think of what could have happened that she would be visiting him so late at night it was early in the morning. She held a pokeball in her hand.

"Yes," she replied. "I was about to head to the airport to return home when I realized I hadn't given this to you." She held the ball out for him to take. He stared at it for a moment, blinking, trying to decide if this was real or a joke.

"Cynthia," he said slowly, "it's three in the fucking morning and you came to give me a pokemon?"

"Yes," she replied matter of factly. "Do you want it or not?"

He narrowed his eyes at her in what he hoped was clearly stink eye and not just groggy eye. "What is it?" he asked.

"A Riolu," she answered. "You're a steel-type specialist that doesn't have a Lucario. It's basically illegal. I went to the trouble of finding you a Riolu that you can raise. Lucarios can be resistant to trusting a new trainer, but Riolus are easy and eager to bond with. I know you're not a fighting expert, but I figure you can ask Brawly for tips if you need."

Steven sighed deeply and took the offered ball before saying goodbye to his friend. He let the pokemon out of its ball and came face to face with a baby Riolu. There was a note on the ball telling him it was a boy. "Well, I guess you'll be staying with me from now on," he commented tiredly to the equally tired Riolu. "I won't be able to sleep until I name you so how about..." He looked around the room for inspiration, but when he couldn't find any, pulled out one of his many books on gems and flipped through it. "Azure?" he asked and showed a picture to the Riolu. "Short for Azurite?" The Riolu looked at the picture and nodded, mesmerized by the pretty rock. Steven nodded, put the book on the coffee table for later, picked up Azure, and took him to bed. Azure curled up against Steven's stomach for the night and slept soundly.


End file.
